Stitched Mushroom Embroidery Hoop

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. Today's project is another stitching project. The pattern is from Waffleflower.com which was created for the Waffle Flower Stitchable Hoops die. I customized the pattern to fit my stitchable die cut which was cut using The Stamp Market Embroidery Hoop dies. The difference between the two is the number of stitching holes and center. The Waffle Flower has the stitching hole as the center of the circle die cut while The Stamp Market has the stitching space as the center. So the pattern was more towards the left side of the circle. To balance this, I repeated the color on the right side of the pattern.

The nice thing about stitching on paper is that you have a lot of choices when it comes to the color of the stitching panel. I have never stitched on black fabric before but here I am, stitching on black cardstock for a change.

I substituted some of the colors on the pattern since I don't have all of the suggested embroidery floss colors. I also used an orange DMC Mouline Etoile floss for some sparkle to the pattern. How I wish I used a red one to make the mushroom really sparkly. 

This stitched mushroom embroidery hoop can be used as a gift tag, a focal image of a card or an ephemera to a scrapbook layout. 

I hope you like today's project. Thank you for visiting my blog. Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

 

Stitched Framed Art

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. Today's cross stitch pattern is from Cross Stitch Floral Dreams by Durene Jones. 

I die cut a light pink cardstock using the Ellen Hutson A2 Piercing Plate 2. The die adds piercing holes to the paper for cross stitching. There are 53 squares x 64 squares which equals to a 12 count Aida cloth. These numbers guide in choosing the pattern that I will cross stitch on the panel. 

If the cross stitch pattern is too large, you can do a Spotlight Stitching in which you choose an area of the pattern that you like to stitch. The pattern I used is smaller than the panel. I don't have the recommended colors for the pattern. I substitute the DMC colors that I don't have with what I have in my stash. I use the DMC conversion chart in thread-bare.com to help me in substituting colors.

I revised the outlines of the pattern. Some of the outlines require stitching on the middle of two holes.  With paper stitching, you can only stitch on the poked holes. Stitching in between the holes might tear the paper especially with how small the count on this panel. 

Once I was done with the stitching, I framed the panel using The Stamp Market Scalloped Frame die. This die set comes with all the necessary dies to create a picture frame. I die cut the frame twice using a heavy weight kraft cardstock. I adhered the frames on top of each other to add depth. I die cut the stitched panel and another kraft cardstock using the oval scalloped die I adhered the kraft cardstock to the back of the stitched panel. The scallop only goes one way, so if it does not match, rotate the frame 180 degrees. Same with the solid scallop die cut, you cannot flip it to use the back of the die cut. The scallops will not match. 

The set comes with the easel die to make this frame stand. I die cut the easel on the same kraft cardstock I used for the scallop frame. Adhering the easel can be challenging. I usually tape the flap to the back first and check if the frame will stand before gluing it. 

I hope you like today's project. Thank you for visiting my blog. Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

I am sharing this project at

Challenge #312~What's in Your Garden? #2

 

Framed Art

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. Today's project is a gift to the only locally owned brick & mortar craft store here in St. Louis, Checkered Cottage. They celebrated their 25th anniversary last August. This store is owned by three wonderful ladies, Susan, Robyn & Linda with the support of their staff and class instructors. If you happen to pass by St. Louis, how about stopping by this store?

My favorite section of the store is the Recreate where gently used craft items are sold. I love finding treasures here especially craft tools. I also love their wide array of products. It takes a lot of discipline not to splurge on craft items but sometimes, I cannot help it especially when they have the latest releases of my favorite brands. 

Back on the project, the letters are foiled using the Pinkfresh Studio Inna Alpha: hot foil set, layering stencils and die set. I purchased the first two items from the Checkered Cottage. I agreed to show them a project using the stencils. This has been a while. But isn't this the best opportunity to show them  how the stencils work and make them keep it, too?

There is another discovery I made in the process of creating this project. I have not been using my Spellbinders Glimmer Machine because of my failure of getting a good foiled impression. I found out that Spellbinders carry a Glimmer specialty paper. The Checkered Cottage does not have this specialty paper. They only have the Betterpress specialty paper. I went ahead and purchase this to foil on. What is there to lose, right? If it doesn't work then I can use the cardstock for other purposes. But what a nice surpise! This cardstock worked really well with the Glimmer Foil despite its textured and matte finish. 

I used Tim Holtz Distress inks in blending ink on the flowers and a gray dye ink for the letters. Since the flowers and leavers are small, I only used one color for each flower on a letter. I started with a light hand in blending the ink on the first stencil. You achieve a darker shade of the color as you go along with layered stencils.

I stitched a heart using the smallest embroidery hoop die from The Stamp Market Embroidery Hoop Dies. I used a red DMS Variegated embroidery floss for the stitching. I die cut the embroidery hoop on silver mirror cardstock to tie in with the silver foiling of the letters. 

For the background, I trimmed varied pastel colored cardstocks at 4 1/4" x 5 1/2". I added details to these panels with The Greetery Aida Cloth Texture plate to tie in with the stitched heart. I adhered these panels to a 12" x 12" white cardstock and trimmed off the excess. The frame size is 11" x 14". I trimmed 1/4" off each edge for a clear border around the panel. 

I die cut the Happy Anniversary on white cardstock. I adhered a vellum to the back. The die I used is the Altenew Essential Sentiment Strips die set. I embossed the 25th using a retired My Favorite Things stamp set. I embossed this using silver embossing powder. I stamped the date on white cardstock using the Heidi Swapp Roller Date Stamp. I die cut this into a decorative strip using a die from Concord & 9th. 

I hope you like today's project. Checkered Cottage was nice enough to make an FB post with a photo of this framed art and ME! (Checkered Cottage) They also have this framed art on display (Checkered Cottage 2). 

Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

(The link to the Altenew product I used on my Framed Art is Altenew Essential Strips Die Set . My affiliate link is: https://altenew.com/6358517. There will be no additional cost to you should you decide to purchase this product. It is just a way to help a fellow crafter sustain her love for crafting. While in the Altenew blog, don't forget to check out this month's release. Thank you for your support!)

 

Spidery Pennant

 

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. The Kat Scrappiness Creative Influencers are celebrating Halloween and Fall this early to hopefully inspire you and get ready for these occasions. I love Halloween! I remember the days when I will create packaging for classroom treats for my sons. They are all grown up now to do trick or treating. 

Today's project features one of my most favorite and most used KS product. I have created several projects featuring this spider on different occasions/seasons.

I die cut a black cardstock using the KS Nesting Fishtail Banner die. I layered two of the banner dies to die cut a frame on a light brown cardstock.

I die cut the spider web on white cardstock. The spider web die is from the KS Creepy Crawly craft dies. I adhered a narrow double adhesive tape to the back of the spider web, from the center to the edge of the web. After I removed the release paper, I adhered a white yarn to the adhesive. 

I adhered the same double sided adhesive to the back of the fishtail banner frame. I adhered the ends of the white yarn to the adhesive, then adhered the frame to the black fishtail banner die cut. I trimmed off the excess yarn.

I die cut the big spider and the two small spiders on black glittered cardstock and black cardstock. I die cut two black pieces for the large spider and adhered it together. I adhered the glittered spider die cut on top of the black spider die cuts. 

I selectively die cut the spider's eyes on white glittered cardstock. I adhered a small piece of tape to the back of the spiders. This will serve as an anchor for the glittered spider's eyes once I piece it in. I squirted a dot of glue on the eye openings and pieced in the eyes. The eyes have a pierced dot which I accentuated with a black pen. 

I applied liquid glue to the back of the spiders, only on the spider's body. I adhered the spiders to the spider web. I zhuzh the spider's feet off the spider web.

I adhered some KS Onxy Black Pearl Mix for some accent.

I hope you like today's project. Thank you for visiting my blog. Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

I added below links to the Kat Scrappiness products I used on this card. There will be no additional cost to you should you decide to purchase any of these products. While you are at the Kat Scrappiness website, do check out their wide array of products. They have a new release, too! Enjoy!

I am sharing this project at

#237~Anything Goes #16

CAS & ATC

Hello! Welcome to my blog. I am back after a much needed month long break from blogging. We have a new challenge at Incy Wincy Designs. I am this month's challenge author, too. Thank you to co-DT Karen for suggesting this month's theme/s of ATC (Artist Trading Card) and CAS (Clean and Simple).

I stamped the dog on a white cardstock using a black dye ink. The stamp is from the Lawn Fawn Critters at the Dog Park stamp set. I also stamped this image on a Post-It note to create a mask. I fussy cut the stamped dog right on the stamped line. I applied the mask over the stamped dog image on the panel.

I stamped the letters for the sentiment. The sentiment was inspired by one of the sentiments on the LF stamp set. The alphabet stamp set I used is from Heidi Swapp. 

I colored the dog and the letters with Faber-Castell Polychromos pencil. I added details with a white Sakura gel pen.

I die cut the panel using a 3x4 stitched die from the Mama Elephant Peek a Frame Creative Cuts. 

ATC cards are easy to pull off especially if you make it a CAS one. With this card, the small size of the ATC and the white space of a CAS made this project easy to create. The most that took my time on this card is the fussy cutting and the coloring. 

I hope you like today's project and that it inspired you enough to join this month's challenge at Incy Wincy. Thank you for visiting my blog. Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

I am sharing this creation at

#239-Anything Goes with a stamp #9

Challenge #323 #28

 

Eclipse Card Technique

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. Today's project was created for the Blank Page Muse and I Brake For Stamp blogs. Thank you BPM & IBFS for allowing me to share the project here in my blog, too!

Today's project showcases the Eclipse technique. Eclipse technique is when you die cut a word or a shape on a background panel, then raise this die cut up slightly with foam or layered die cuts. I have created several projects using this technique. I didn't know that what its called until now. Thanks to Craft With Sarah for now I have a name for this technique. 

The stamp I used is the I Brake For Stamps License Plate Vintage Style Alphabet Rubber Stamp. This is an unmounted red rubber stamp that comes in two strips of letters and icons. You have an option to cut the letters apart or keep it together. I did not cut my stamps apart.  

Initially, I was using the Misti Stamping Tool to create my background but later on changed to a long acrylic block. To temporarily adhere the rubber stamp to the acrylic block, I applied double sided adhesive to the block then adhered the rubber stamp strip to it. The adhesive was tacky enough to keep the rubber stamp in place but not too tacky that I wasn't able to reuse it for the other rubber stamp strip. I was also able to remove the tape without ruining the acrylic block. 

I repeatedly stamped the letters on a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" watercolor paper. I highly recommend using a smooth watercolor paper to get a better impression of the letters. 

I did the paper to stamp inking technique here. After I inked the letters with Versafine Onyx Black ink, I placed the watercolor paper on top of the inked stamp and rubbed my fingers over the paper to transfer the ink. I repeated this step until I filled up the whole panel. 

I heat set the panel before coloring the letter blocks with Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers following a rainbow pattern. Once I was done with the coloring, I heat set the watercolored panel again to speed dry it. 

Here comes the fun part. I die cut a sentiment on the panel making sure I kept every piece of the die cuts. The die I used is from Lawn Fawn.

I adhered tape to the back of the opening created by the sentiment die. Using a double adhesive tape is another option.

I die cut the word on brown cardstock three more times. I applied dots of glue to the back of one of the word die cuts, then pieced this on the opening of the water colored panel. 

I adhered the drop out pieces to the opening of the letters. It already looks good at this point, right? You can actually stop here to make this into an inlay card.

Since I am making this card into an eclipse card, I adhered the other two pieces of sentiment die cuts over the piece that is pieced in the panel to build layers. I adhered the sentiment die cut from the watercolored panel on the top. 

It is kind of difficult to see the raised sentiment on the first photo but this is what makes this card magical. The sentiment is hidden and you only figure out that there is a sentiment once you run your fingers over the panel and/or tilt the card. 

An option to make the sentiment pop out more is to lightly tap embossing ink over the raised sentiment, pour clear or glittered embossing powder over it, then heat set it. I like the camouflage look of the sentiment so I kept it as is.

I hope you like today's project and give this technique a try. Thank you for visiting my blog. Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

Blank Page Muse and I Brake For Stamps is generously offering a 15% discount to their online store to YOU, my blog readers. Just use the code BPMMaria when you check out. Enjoy!

I am sharing this project at

Challenge #40~Rainbow

Challenge #311~Anything Goes

Creating a Scene With BPM Stamps

 

Hello! Welcome to another BPM blog post. Today's project shows how you can use several Blank Page Muse stamps to create a scene. 

I am using the BPM Woodlands Art Rubber Stamps and the BPM You Make Me Happy Hummingbird Clouds Flower Clear Stamp Set on this project.

After I planned how my scene will look like, I stamped the images on a scrap piece of paper to give me an idea on the placement of the images, and the order of stamping. 

It also gave me an idea which images I need to create a mask for. Since this is a draft, the stamping of the images need not to be straight. 

If you noticed, the stamping on the draft is different from the final project. I made a boo-boo on a step but it's alright. It still turned out well, what do you think?

Any image that will be on the front needs a mask. The fox had a mask but the mask fell off before I was able to take a photo.

Since most of the stamps I used are rubber stamps, I used a stamp positioner to know where to stamp the images. This is the limitation of rubber stamps compared to clear stamps. You cannot really see where you are stamping.

I used Versafine Onyx Blank ink, a watercolor friendly ink, in stamping the images since I used this medium in coloring the images and the background. I heat set the panel before coloring to make sure that the ink is dry before watercoloring. I used mostly Tim Holtz Distress Ink Re-inkers. For the colors that I don't have, I used the Kuretake Gansai Tambi.

Once I was done coloring the images, I free painted the background. I started painting the sky since this used a very light color. It is easier to paint over a lighter color with a darker color than vice versa. It is harder to lighten up a dark color once you have painted it.

I hope you like today's project. Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

Blank Page Muse is generously offering a 15% discount to their online store to YOU, my blog readers. Just use the code BPMMaria when you check out. Enjoy!

 

Lunar Animals One Layer Greeting Card

 

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. I am glad you are here. I will be taking a month long break from blogging and creating. I hope you like my last project before my August hiatus. 

Mama Elephant is one of my favorite brands. The are searching for Guest Designers. So exciting, right?  I certainly want to give this a try. 

My card was inspired by a card I previously made with a similar design. Please check it out if you have time (Almost a One Layer Card).

To create the layout, I arranged the lunar animals from the Mama Elephant Lunar Animals stamp set based on its order on the Lunar Calendar. I have several pieces of stamped and die cut images left from a previous project that I used to plan the layout. For the animals that are lacking, I die cut scraps of cardstock with the coordinating dies. I used these die cuts as guide for placement of the stamp on a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" scrap paper. Once I am happy with the arrangement, I picked the die cuts with a Glad Press N' Seal.

Using the Misti Stamping Tool, I positioned on a corner a top folding heavy weight A2 note card. I positioned the Glad Press N' Seal over the A2 note card. I matched the animal stamp with the die cut. I picked the animal stamps with the door of the Misti then carefully removed the Glad Press N' Seal. I inked the stamps with Memento Black Tuxedo ink since I will be coloring the images with Copic markers. Without re-inking the stamps, I stamped the images on a Post-It Note which I die cut later on using the coordinating die.

I cleaned the stamps, then returned it back to the clear sheet. I placed the Glad Press N' Seal again over the note card, then repeated the process of lining and stamping the stamps. I stamped one row of animals at a time. 

I created a DIY stencil with a re-purposed plastic from a broken accordion file. I die cut a square on this plastic film using a square die that is large enough to fit the lunar animal stamp. I applied large Post-It Notes inside and on the back of the notecard to protect it from any stray ink.

I covered each lunar animal with the coordinating Post-It Note die cut to act as a mask. I positioned the DIY stencil over the panel with the square opening over the stamped die cut mask. I blended different Tim Holtz Distress Oxides on each lunar animal. I blended a color on the square opening, cleaned the DIY stencil and re-positioned the stencil on the next lunar animal. I repeated this process until I have blended inks on all of the lunar animals. I flicked some water droplets over the panel and picked the extra water droplets with a dry paper towel.

My most favorite part about masking is removing the mask and unveiling the image underneath it.

I colored the images with Copic markers. I stamped a simple message on the panel using a sentiment stamp from Mama Elephant Sunday Sentiments stamp set. I stamped the sentiment using Versafine Onyx Black ink. I poured clear embossing powder over the wet ink then heat set it until the powder is melted.

I hope you like today's project. Thank you for visiting my blog. I hope you come back again after my blogging break. Will I see you in September?

Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

I am sharing this project at

Anything Goes

4 Legged Friends

Ink Smooshing With Acetate

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. The month of July is almost over. I am thankful for this month for a lot of reasons. One of which is I became a part of the Altenew's July Release Blog Hop. Some of my cards are featured on Altenew's shop, online catalogue and social media sites. It is such an honor. 

Today's card features products from this month's release which are currently out of stock. Just click the 'notify me' button at the Altenew website to be informed once these products are back in stock if you are interested in purchasing it. 

The colors I used are inspired by this month's Altenew Inspiration Challenge.

I stamped the flower from the Altenew Build-A-Garden Sulfur Cosmos stamp set to a watercolor cardstock. I stamped it twice to fill a 6" x 4 1/2" panel. I used Versafine Onyx Black ink for the stamping. I dried the ink using a heat gun before doing the ink smooshing.

I am using Karin markers for coloring. I used the Neon Yellow, Neon Yellow-Orange and Neon Pink. I applied the pigment to a palette and spritz it with water to dilute the ink. Using a flat brush, I applied water to the stamped panel. This will help mute the color. I picked the ink using a scrap piece of acetate. I transferred the color to the stamped panel by pouncing the acetate to the stamped panel. I heat set in between inking to dry the ink. I repeated this process until I am happy with the coloring of the panel. There are a lot of advantages in using this technique. You can select which area of your project to pounce the ink on. You can also create new colors when the two colors of ink mix while it is still wet. And you can intensify the color by pouncing the acetate with the ink on an area again.

I have a stash of watercolor paper strips from cutting the watercolor paper to 8 1/2" x 11" since most watercolor papers come in 9" x 12". To make use of these watercolor paper strips, I colored a row of sentiments on the debossed side of the Altenew Raised Sentiments 3D Embossing Folder. I used the same colors I used on the smooshed panel. I positioned the watercolor paper strip over this inked portion of the embossing folder, then run it through my Sizzix Big Shot machine. With this technique, the color from the embossing folder transferred to the strip while giving an embossed impression on the paper strip as well. The embossed letters remained white in color.

The ink on the embossing folder can be wiped off with a baby wipe or with a Hero Arts Ultra Clean Spray if the ink won't come off with the baby wipe. 

I trimmed the strips narrower using a craft knife to make it into quarter inch sentiment strips.

I cut the floral panel at 1 3/4". I built the panel by adhering the sentiment strip on a paper cut at 4 1/4" x 5 1/2". You can adhere the strips straight onto a notecard but I like doing it on scrap paper first. 

I adhered this strip to the top most edge of the paper. I adhered the floral strip next, then repeated the process until the paper is covered with the sentiment strips and the floral panels. I trimmed off any excess.

I adhered this to a top folding A2 note card. 

Thank you for visiting my blog. I hope you like today's project. Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

(I added above links to the Altenew products I used on my card. My affiliate link is: https://altenew.com/6358517. There will be no additional cost to you should you decide to purchase these product/s. It is just a way to help a fellow crafter sustain her love for crafting. While in the Altenew blog, don't forget to check out the rest of the products included in this month's release. Thank you for your support!)

I am sharing this project at

Altenew Challenge Blog

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